Why Workplace Culture Is A ‘Rude Awakening’ For New Grads

Dear future college grads: If you think your group projects prepared you for “teamwork” in the workplace? You’re in for a bad time. Yours sincerely, literally everyone that had to deal with the culture shock of their first job after college.

Be warned new grads: Starting your new job with unrealistic expectations is a great way to kick off your career struggling. This scenario is becoming a big problem with our generation in particular.

There is a new report, which finds that 30% of millennials have quit their job because of “career development” reasons. It seems as though going from a situation where you get an A+ for great work to another where you don’t even get considered for a promotion isn’t gelling with us.

Get ready for lack of acknowledgment for your contributions and, in some cases, an environment that’s toxic compared to former classrooms. Several companies are holding onto overly “hierarchical structures” where managers are managers, and lower-level employees are just that. People that are so low on the totem pole that they shouldn’t even make eye-contact with their higher-ups.

It’s this lack of empowerment that causes a “rude awakening” for recruits, and it’s why many of us end up sticking around long enough to “find something that looks better, and then they move on.”

So is it our generation’s fault for wanting encouraging work environments or our employer’s responsibility for not nurturing young talent? I don’t think it’s snowflaky for millennials to want upward mobility out of their career.